Research and Development

« Miscellaneous Competition
62.1 Scope
Research and Development is open to any NAR member who is performing research (to include historical research), or engineering new developments, in which hobby rocketry plays a primary part. The purpose of this event is to stimulate new concepts, approaches, and ideas in:

  • Advancing the state-of-the-art of hobby rocketry; or
  • Using hobby rocketry as a research tool; or
  • Preserving the history of hobby rocketry.
  • Projects previously entered may not be accepted as an entry unless the competitor has demonstrated that significant new work has been done.
62.2 Proxy
This event may not be conducted by proxy, unless the Contest Director rules that special circumstances, such as illness, warrant special consideration.
62.3 Judging
Each entry in this event shall be judged by at least three judges. Although NAR membership is not a prerequisite for judging, all judges must demonstrate a working knowledge of the rules of the event, and be technically competent to judge the quality of the entries.
62.4 Entries
Research and Development entries must be submitted as a PDF file to the NAR website https://www.nar.org/rd/ no later than two weeks prior to the opening of the contest.

Note: Every report must contain the elements below in some form to be considered a qualified entry. If the report concerns a book, data compilation, product design, etc., the elements below regarding development of these subjects are also required.

Each entry shall detail:

  • The objective(s) of the work
  • The approach taken
  • The equipment used
  • The facilities used
  • The data collected
  • The results obtained
  • The conclusions drawn
  • The money spent on the project (budget)
  • Further work that would clarify or extend the results obtained.

Each entry shall also include:

  • A brief summary of any related Research and Development report(s) previously entered by the author
  • A summary of any previous research done on the entry’s subject material which the competitor discovered while researching his/her subject.
62.5 Summary
Each Research and Development entry shall include a separate 250 – 300 word summary of the report. The NAR reserves the right to publish the summary.
62.6 Oral Presentation
The competitor should be prepared, if called upon by the judges, to make an oral presentation on his/her project. The oral presentation shall not exceed fifteen minutes. The presentation should cover briefly the material of the written report. During this presentation the competitor shall not be interrupted. No oral comments shall be made by anyone until the presentation is complete and the competitor asks for questions. At this time, the judges and members of the audience may question the competitor concerning his/her project for a time not to exceed ten minutes. The judges reserve the right to reduce the question and answer time limits.
62.7 Required Presentation
An oral presentation shall be required from those competitors being considered for the top places.
62.8 Demonstration
If required, the competitor must demonstrate his/her project in operation. Success or failure of the demonstration shall not affect the competitor’s score, provided that the competitor gives a reasonable oral explanation of the deviation from expected performance.
62.9 Safety
If any entry does not fully comply with the safety standards set forth in this Sporting Code, the competitor must present to the RSO evidence that the entry is safe in operation. Research and Development demonstration flights must be approved by the RSO per Rule 5.1.
62.10 Scoring
Research and Development shall be scored as follows: the top ten (10) places will be awarded sequentially descending from first place (1, 2, 3, 4…10). All places shall be awarded without skipping places. In case of a tie, duplicate places shall be awarded and all numerical places will be awarded as though there had been no tie.
(Ex. 1, 2, 2, 3, 4…).
• Objectives & Hypothesis or Problem Statement: 0-20 points
• Design & Procedures or Engineering process: 0-20 points
• Data & Results or Problem Solution: 0-20 points
• Analysis & Conclusions or Project Evaluation: 0-20 points
• Oral Presentation: 0-10 points
• Report Presentation: 0-10 points
The entry with the highest number of points is the winner. Judges shall use the latest revision of the “R&D Judging Rubric” sheet to score the entries.    R&D Judging Rubric
The judges shall supply a copy of their final judging sheet to the competitor after judging is complete and places are announced.
62.11 Right to Publish
By entering his/her Research and Development report, the author attests that it is his/her own work, and conveys to the NAR a non-exclusive right to publish the summary and/or the report in any NAR publication. The author remains free to publish or to allow publication of the summary or report anywhere else he/she may choose. If the report describes the development of or otherwise relates to a commercial product or publication, that product or publication remains the sole property of the author, and NAR may not reproduce or distribute it without permission.